Food Stamps – Judicial Watchhttp://www.judicialwatch.org
Because no one is above the law!Thu, 08 Dec 2016 15:58:17 +0000en-UShourly1Food Stamp Craze: U.S. Spends $3.6 Billion to Give $70 Billion in Benefitshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/10/food-stamp-craze-u-s-spends-3-6-billion-give-70-billion-benefits/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/10/food-stamp-craze-u-s-spends-3-6-billion-give-70-billion-benefits/#respondFri, 28 Oct 2016 15:55:25 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=84174Not only does the government spend a breathtaking $70 billion a year to give a record number of people food stamps, it wastes billions more to administer the bloated welfare program. Some states spend a lot more than others to distribute the free food vouchers and the discrepancies are downright outrageous. The government dedicates $3.6

]]>Not only does the government spend a breathtaking $70 billion a year to give a record number of people food stamps, it wastes billions more to administer the bloated welfare program. Some states spend a lot more than others to distribute the free food vouchers and the discrepancies are downright outrageous. The government dedicates $3.6 billion annually just to administer food stamps (renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP to eliminate stigma), according to a federal audit that includes mind-boggling figures.

For instance, California, the state with by far the largest food-stamp roll, spends a lot more than the national average to execute the federal nutrition program. The Golden State doles out an average of $34.06 a month for each of its 2 million food stamp cases while other states, like Ohio, spend only $9.55. Some California counties are off the charts with administration costs. For instance, San Francisco County spends a whopping $73 a month administering each food stamp case. To put this in perspective, New York City spends $23 per case. The huge gap suggests “possible waste and operational inefficiencies,” according to the audit conducted by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that dispenses food stamps. That seems to be putting it mildly.

SNAP is a federal program but states are responsible for distributing the benefit and they get big bucks from Uncle Sam to get the job done. Though federal regulations establish uniform requirements for managing administrative funds, once local governments get the money there’s no follow up from the feds, leaving the system open to fraud and corruption. The USDA watchdog reveals the problem has persisted for years and that despite the “large variances” in SNAP administrative costs the agency doesn’t bother monitoring or coordinating with states to “assist in containing costs, minimizing variances, and sharing best practices.” The audit attributes the problem to a lack of effective oversight. In other words, yet another swollen and derelict government agency failing miserably to carry out its basic duties.

A record 46.5 million people get food stamps from the government, but the probe only includes the ten states with the highest rolls so the waste is probably much larger. The figures are broken down in the report by state and county and they’re enough to outrage any sensible, taxpaying citizen. California leads in both charts, spending $825,316,195 a year to give 2,019,272 residents food stamps. San Francisco County spends a startling $27,947,139 a year to give just 32,074 residents food stamps and Los Angeles County $187,426,575 annually to distribute the benefit to 573,282. Other big spenders are New Jersey ($138,400,032 for 439,695 food-stamp cases) and North Dakota ($7,521,986 for 25,011). Hamilton County in Ohio did the most efficient job, spending only $5.70 to administer each of its 61,772 cases every month.

The nation’s food-stamp program has long been plagued with fraud and corruption that’s been well documented in a multitude of government audits in the last few years. Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped the president from expanding the program to record levels in the name of eradicating what he calls an epidemic of “food insecurity.” Judicial Watch has reported extensively on this, dating back to 2012 when a federal investigation uncovered evidence that food-stamp recipients were using their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. A year later Judicial Watch broke a story about the U.S. government knowingly giving illegal immigrants food stamps for decades. That was followed by another disturbing scheme in which SNAP benefits were being sold online using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and ecommerce websites like Craigslist and eBay.

Earlier this year federal authorities in south Florida busted the largest food-stamp fraud operation in U.S. history. Twenty-two defendants in the largely black and Hispanic areas of Miami-Dade County known as Opa-Locka and Hialeah swindled the government out of $13 million by fraudulently trading food stamps for cash. The crooked vendors operated food and produce stands at a local flea market as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to eradicate “food deserts,” common in poor, minority communities where fresh, healthy food is tough to find or often unavailable. The feds say the business owners and their employees let food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to get cash in exchange for a cut of the money. They swiped the recipient’s SNAP card for an inflated amount, doled out cash and kept a percentage. In most instances the recipient didn’t actually get food, according to federal authorities.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/10/food-stamp-craze-u-s-spends-3-6-billion-give-70-billion-benefits/feed/0Obama Food-Stamp Free-for-All: Feds Bust Largest Fraud Operation in U.S. Historyhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/05/feds-bust-largest-food-stamp-fraud-operation-in-u-s-history/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2016/05/feds-bust-largest-food-stamp-fraud-operation-in-u-s-history/#respondFri, 13 May 2016 16:28:20 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=80960President Obama’s expanded food-stamp program certifying flea market retailers as vendors to provide low-income neighborhoods with fresh produce has ripped open a Pandora’s Box of fraud and corruption. This week federal authorities in south Florida busted the largest food-stamp fraud operation in U.S. history. Twenty-two defendants in the largely black and Hispanic areas of Miami-Dade

]]>President Obama’s expanded food-stamp program certifying flea market retailers as vendors to provide low-income neighborhoods with fresh produce has ripped open a Pandora’s Box of fraud and corruption. This week federal authorities in south Florida busted the largest food-stamp fraud operation in U.S. history. Twenty-two defendants in the largely black and Hispanic areas of Miami-Dade County known as Opa-Locka and Hialeah swindled the government out of $13 million by fraudulently trading food stamps for cash.

The crooked vendors operated food and produce stands at a local flea market as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s initiative to eradicate “food deserts,” common in poor, minority communities where fresh, healthy food is tough to find or often unavailable. The feds say the business owners and their employees let food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to get cash in exchange for a cut of the money. They swiped the recipient’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) card (the government created the name to avoid stigma) for an inflated amount, doled out cash and kept a percentage. In most instances the recipient didn’t actually get food, according to federal authorities. “These flea market retailers are charged with having taken advantage of a provision in the SNAP program designed to provide locally sourced fresh produce and meat to low income families who otherwise would likely have no option for such food items,” said a special agent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General in an announcement. The USDA funds food stamps, which are then distributed by states.

Thousands of food-stamp recipients are believed to have exchanged their benefit for cash in this flea market scheme that “defrauded the American taxpayer” and “denied healthy foods to needy children and their families,” according to the USDA OIG agent, Karen Citizen-Wilcox. In a press conference attended by Judicial Watch in the Justice Department’s Miami headquarters this week, federal prosecutors coined the case “Operation Stampede.” The defendants, all authorized by the government to accept food stamps as part of the administration’s new initiative, face up to 20 years in prison. Authorities didn’t touch on consequences that the food-stamp recipients should face for also breaking the law. They also committed fraud by knowingly taking cash—instead of food—which is illegal under program rules. This has been going for some time and in fact, JW reported in 2012 on a federal audit that found food-stamp recipients were using their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. The same investigation also determined that some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash like in this latest Florida flea market case. Two years later JW reported that SNAP benefits were being sold online using social media such as Facebook, Twitter and ecommerce websites like Craigslist and eBay.

This hasn’t stopped the administration from expanding the food stamp rolls—in the name of reducing “food insecurity”—which are currently at more than 45 million, according to the latest USDA figures. This translates into tens of billions of dollars for a bloated program that saw its annual spending more than double in just five years. Besides the free groceries, the administration has also dedicated tens of millions more to provide food-stamp recipients with free fruits and veggies as part of the First Lady’s effort to revolutionize the inner-city diet. Among them is a $31.5 million effort to create projects that increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers that already get food stamps and a $1.9 million research center that will find ways to help recipients make healthier and wiser food choices. This is no joke. The new compound will be known as the Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice.

It’s part of the First Lady’s costly effort to eradicate “food deserts,” area’s with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods. The administration has spent a fortune on this cause and there seems to be no end to the cash flow. The money is mostly doled out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is charged with carrying out Michelle Obama’s $4.5 billion law to provide affordable healthy fare such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk in neighborhoods determined by the administration to be “food deserts.” The ultimate goal is to revolutionize the inner-city diet by providing fresh government-subsidized produce and grilled lean meats as alternatives to greasy, fried foods that tend to be more popular in those areas, presumably because they’re cheaper.

This month the USDA announced that it is investing $16.8 million to help food-stamp recipients increase their purchase of fruits and vegetables. In this particular allocation the agency is emphasizing the importance of providing “culturally-appropriate fruits and vegetables for a target group of consumers.” The agency reveals that it’s part of a Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) program created by the 2014 Farm Bill, but it’s clearly part of the First Lady’s push to get low-income minorities to eat healthier. “Eating healthy foods makes a difference to an entire family’s health and ability to learn, work and enjoy life,” said Obama’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The money will go to “underserved communities” and here are a few examples of the types of projects that our tax dollars are funding this round; programs that provide incentives to increase the purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables by food-stamp recipients; programs that test innovative or promising strategies that would contribute to our understanding of how best to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by food-stamp recipients; develop innovative benefit redemption systems that can be replicated or scaled. It’s anybody’s guess what all this really means, but we do know it will cost nearly $17 million.

It doesn’t matter to the administration that this pricey government initiative to change the nutritional habits of poor minorities is failing miserably. In fact, an academic study published last year found that it’s a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. The probe focused on Philadelphia, an area that’s received a large chunk of cash to eradicate “food deserts.” Besides getting money from the First Lady’s measure, the area has also received generous grants from a $15 billion fund tied to the president’s disastrous healthcare law as well as stimulus money to combat obesity. The funds have helped build new markets and added healthy food options to convenience stores in the city’s low-income neighborhood.Nothing has changed, however. Residents of the underserved areas are no healthier after getting their government-funded fruits and veggies, the study found. After six months, there was no significant improvement in the body-mass index of local residents or in their consumption of fruits and vegetables, according to the academic researchers. The extensive probe considered more than 1,000 Philadelphia residents who lived in areas once considered food deserts because there were no affordable healthy things to eat. Uncle Sam’s lofty investment made no difference, but hasn’t stopped the cash from rolling in.

This hasn’t put a dent in the cash flow, though. Last year Judicial Watch reported that the USDA dedicated $31.5 million to “create projects that increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers” that already get food stamps from American taxpayers. Besides boosting fruit and veggie consumption in the inner-city, the allocation funded programs that test strategies to help “our understanding of how best to increase the purchase” of these healthy items by food-stamp recipients.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/10/16-8-mil-to-give-poor-minorities-culturally-appropriate-fruits-and-vegetables/feed/0$31 Mil in “Creative Community Partnerships” to Give Poor Fruits, Veggieshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/04/31-mil-in-creative-community-partnerships-to-give-poor-fruits-veggies/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/04/31-mil-in-creative-community-partnerships-to-give-poor-fruits-veggies/#respondFri, 03 Apr 2015 16:16:07 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=74746Less than a year after spending tens of millions of dollars to provide the nation’s food-stamp recipients with more fruits and vegetables, the Obama administration is generously throwing in another $31.5 million for the same cause, according to a recent announcement. It’s the last thing Americans need to hear as the dreaded tax day approaches

]]>Less than a year after spending tens of millions of dollars to provide the nation’s food-stamp recipients with more fruits and vegetables, the Obama administration is generously throwing in another $31.5 million for the same cause, according to a recent announcement.

It’s the last thing Americans need to hear as the dreaded tax day approaches since, after all, they’re bankrolling the healthy food campaign for low-income residents. Under President Obama the country’s food-stamp program—rebranded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to eliminate stigma associated with the welfare benefit—has grown immensely, according to the government’s own figures. A record number of people, around 47 million, get free groceries from Uncle Sam at an astounding cost of about $80 billion a year.

It isn’t enough to give tens of millions of people free food. The administration wants to assure the welfare recipients are eating healthy and nutritious items by providing government-subsidized produce, whole grains and low-fat milk in neighborhoods it has labeled “food deserts.” It’s part of a broader effort spearheaded by Michelle Obama’s $4.5 billion law to revolutionize the inner city diet by providing fruits, veggies and grilled lean meats as alternatives to greasy, fried foods that tend to be more popular in those areas—presumably because they’re cheaper.

The money flows through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has poured huge sums into the cause and this month dedicated the additional $31.5 million. “Encouraging low income families to put more healthy food in their grocery baskets is part of USDA’s ongoing commitment to improving the diet and health of all Americans,” said Obama’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He referred to the costly program as “creative community partnerships” that will ultimately help SNAP participants better afford fruits and vegetables. Officially the funds for this particular initiative have been coined Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grants.

Judicial Watch has reported on this extensively in the last few years, exposing the enormous sums of taxpayer dollars that have been wasted on this ineffective experiment. In fact, last year JW wrote about an academic study that shows the First Lady’s pricey initiative to eliminate “food deserts” is failing miserably. The study focused on a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia that received generous grants from the government to build new markets and add healthy food options to convenience stores. Researchers found that dietary habits or obesity were not altered and it did not lead to changes in fruit and vegetable intake or body mass index.

Before that JW reported that the administration wasted $75 million to study ways of better recognizing the nutritional needs of low-income communities and more than $100 million in Obamacare grants to “reduce health disparities” between minorities and whites by, among other things, eliminating food deserts. The administration even created a special internet mapping tool (Food Desert Locator) that identifies areas with “limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.”

Less than a year ago the Obama administration announced that it was launching a special research center that will find ways to help food-stamp recipients make healthier and wiser food choices. It will be called the Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choiceand Americans will pay at least $1.9 million—possibly more—to create it. There seems to be no end to the madness, an obsession to control what private citizens consume and change the ingrained eating habits of an entire demographic.

It’s part of the First Lady’s effort to eradicate “food deserts,” area’s with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods, and so far the administration has spent a fortune with no end in sight to the cash flow. Announced just a few weeks ago, the latest allocation is for $31.5 million to “create projects that increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables among low-income consumers” that already get food stamps from American taxpayers. This will be accomplished by providing “incentives” at the point of purchase, according to the government’s announcement. Officially the funds have been coined Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grants.

Judicial Watch has reported extensively on this outrageous waste of public funds, which is part of a $4.5 billion law pushed through by Michelle Obama to provide affordable healthy fare such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat milk in neighborhoods determined by the administration to be “food deserts.” The ultimate goal is to revolutionize the inner-city diet by providing fresh government-subsidized produce and grilled lean meats as alternatives to greasy, fried foods that tend to be more popular in those areas, presumably because they’re cheaper

Although the administration continues dedicating huge sums to this costly initiative it’s failing miserably, according to an academic study made public earlier this year. The probe focused on Philadelphia, an area that’s received a chunk of money to eradicate food deserts. Besides getting cash from the First Lady’s measure, the area has also received generous grants from a $15 billion fund tied to the president’s disastrous healthcare law as well as stimulus money to combat obesity. The funds have helped build new markets and added healthy food options to convenience stores in the city’s low-income neighborhoods.

However, the effort has not paid off. Residents of the underserved areas are no healthier after getting their government-funded fruits and veggies, the study found. After six months, there was no significant improvement in the body-mass index of local residents or in their consumption of fruits and vegetables, according to the academic researchers. The extensive probe considered more than 1,000 Philadelphia residents who lived in areas once considered food deserts because there were no affordable healthy things to eat. Uncle Sam’s lofty investment made no difference, but won’t stop the dollars from rolling in.

Besides creating projects to boost fruit and veggie consumption in the inner-city, the new $31.5 million allocation will also fund programs that test strategies to help “our understanding of how best to increase the purchase” of these healthy items by food-stamp recipients. Sales marketing will also be a big part of this initiative, evidently to spread the word among food-stamp recipients that healthy fare is on the house. The term food-stamp is not actually used because the Obama administration banned it and replaced it with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to eliminate the stigma associated with the welfare benefit.

Under Obama the nation’s food-stamp rolls have grown immensely and a record-number of people—some 47 million—get free groceries from the government. This costs an astounding $80 billion a year. As is typical with these types of bloated government programs, fraud and corruption has tainted this one, which is run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA Inspector General has revealed that many food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband and that some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash. Last year JW reported that illegal immigrants have received food stamps by the vanload for decades. A former certification case worker charged with vetting applicants in north Florida and Indiana provided JW with the alarming information.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/10/another-31-5-mil-give-food-stamp-recipients-fruits-veggies/feed/8Food Stamps Sold on Facebook, eBay; U.S. Spends $7 Mil to Crack Down on Fraudhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/07/food-stamps-sold-facebook-ebay-u-s-spends-7-mil-crack-fraud/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/07/food-stamps-sold-facebook-ebay-u-s-spends-7-mil-crack-fraud/#commentsMon, 07 Jul 2014 18:27:39 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=51958It’s bad enough that the Obama administration has shattered records by spending a mind-boggling $80.4 billion to give a record number of people free groceries, now it’s dedicating millions more to crack down on fraud that includes using social media to illegally sell and buy food stamps online. It’s an outrageous and senseless waste of

]]>It’s bad enough that the Obama administration has shattered records by spending a mind-boggling $80.4 billion to give a record number of people free groceries, now it’s dedicating millions more to crack down on fraud that includes using social media to illegally sell and buy food stamps online.

It’s an outrageous and senseless waste of taxpayer dollars to allow a government handout program to become so bloated that it requires such a huge allocation to counter corruption. Judicial Watch has reported extensively on the fraud surrounding the government’s scandal-plagued food stamp program in the last few years. Under President Obama, the food stamp rolls are busting, with a record 50 million people getting free food from Uncle Sam.

Recipients include illegal immigrants thanks to a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agency that distributes food stamps, and the Mexican government. Last year JW uncovered records that show the agency has teamed up with Mexico to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program. The effort includes Spanish-language flyers at Mexican Embassies ensuring that their nationals don’t need to declare their immigration status to get financial assistance from the American government.

As a result the USDA’s grocery giveaway has been long tainted with fraud and corruption that’s been well documented in federal audits and local media reports around the country. Back in 2012 the agency’s Inspector General told Congress that many food stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. Some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash, the USDA watchdog, Phyllis Fong, told federal lawmakers, estimating that the fraud had cost taxpayers nearly $200 million up to that point.

That was two years ago and the problem has only gotten worse as the rolls have expanded. So the Obama administration has decided to spend $7 million in fiscal year 2014 to crack down on food stamp fraud. The money will help states “strengthen recipient integrity activities in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” according to the grant announcement. A few years ago, the Obama administration renamed food stamps Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to eliminate the stigma associated with the welfare program.

The administration has coined the multi-million-dollar initiative “SNAP Trafficking Prevention Grant Program” and it will assist states across the U.S. with cash to implement process improvements designed to detect, investigate and prosecute individuals that unlawfully exchange food stamps for cash payments. Offenders can be permanently disqualified from the program or be criminally charged, according to the announcement. “Program violations may include a number of activities, such as falsifying income or identity in order to be eligible for benefits they may not be entitled to, or by using benefits for anything other than their intended purpose,” the announcement reads.

Among the anti-fraud initiatives that the money will fund are strategies to identify and successfully investigate attempts to buy or sell SNAP benefits online using social media such as Facebook, Twitter or ecommerce websites like Craigslist and eBay. This means that American taxpayers are getting fleeced, first by doling out tens of billions of dollars to supposedly feed the poor then wasting millions more to bust the “needy” selling their government benefit on Facebook and eBay.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/07/food-stamps-sold-facebook-ebay-u-s-spends-7-mil-crack-fraud/feed/18th Circuit Says USDA Can’t Keep Hiding Food Stamp Datahttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/02/8th-circuit-says-usda-cant-keep-hiding-food-stamp-data/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/02/8th-circuit-says-usda-cant-keep-hiding-food-stamp-data/#commentsMon, 03 Feb 2014 19:00:50 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=45010The Obama administration’s efforts to keep secret information about its scandal-plagued food-stamp program received a major blow from a federal appellate court that’s ruled the government can’t hide how much money businesses make by accepting the welfare payments. In the last few years Judicial Watch has reported extensively on the fraud and corruption surrounding food

]]>The Obama administration’s efforts to keep secret information about its scandal-plagued food-stamp program received a major blow from a federal appellate court that’s ruled the government can’t hide how much money businesses make by accepting the welfare payments.

In the last few years Judicial Watch has reported extensively on the fraud and corruption surrounding food stamps, which are administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Food stamp rolls have grown immensely under Obama and the government spends an astounding $80.4 billion a year on the program to meet the president’s goal of eradicating “food insecure households.” A recent USDA report estimates that $858 annually are lost through fraud, especially when recipients sell their benefits for cash at a discount to food retailers.

The USDA report notes that convenience stores and small grocers account for 85% of fraud cases even though they only account for 15% of all food stamp transactions. A newspaper in Sioux Falls launched an investigation and discovered that 622 South Dakota vendors—ranging from grocery stores to gas stations—are enrolled in the food stamp program, which was renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to eliminate the stigma associated with welfare.

The newspaper, the Argus Leader, requested information from the USDA on annual payments for hundreds of thousands of businesses nationwide approved by the agency to accept SNAP. As is common among large federal agencies, the USDA refused to provide the files which were requested by the paper under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The newspaper sued, a South Dakota federal judge sided with the USDA and the paper appealed to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

The USDA argues that a statute creating the food stamp program requires businesses applying for participation to include income and sales tax information that can’t be released. The agency claims this also applies to money that retailers earn from SNAP sales once they are enrolled in the government program. In siding with the USDA, South Dakota federal Judge Karen Schreier ruled that the agency has the right to keep the information secret.

Reversing Schreier’s decision last week, the 8th Circuit rejected the USDA’s argument that the same federal provision protecting retailers’ application information from disclosure also applies to how much they are paid by the government once in the program. In fact, the appellate court agreed with the newspaper’s argument that data collected from businesses when they apply to accept food stamps doesn’t include taxpayer money they get once they are enrolled.

“The department, not any retailer, generates the information, and the underlying data is ‘obtained’ from third-party payment processors, not from individual retailers,” the three-judge panel wrote in its opinion. Besides, the appellate court points out in its ruling that “Congress has clearly indicated its intent to involve the public in counteracting fraud perpetrated by retailers participating in the program.”

There’s no doubt the USDA will spend more taxpayer dollars to appeal so it’s unlikely that the agency will make the information available anytime in the near future. In the meantime the agency responded to the federal appellate court spanking with an all too familiar “no comment.” In an e-mail to the Argus Leader the president of the Association of Health Care Journalists, also the health and science editor at a mainstream newspaper, calls SNAP a government black hole. “The secrecy involving food stamps is in a class by itself, exceeding that of any federal safety-net program.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/02/8th-circuit-says-usda-cant-keep-hiding-food-stamp-data/feed/5Store Charged With Fraud Survives On Food-Stamp Clientshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/01/store-charged-with-fraud-survives-on-food-stamp-clients/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/01/store-charged-with-fraud-survives-on-food-stamp-clients/#commentsThu, 09 Jan 2014 19:14:06 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=44850A convenience store charged with trafficking food stamps can’t get booted from the government program because it would crush the business since it’s located in a poor neighborhood where most clients use the welfare benefit to pay for merchandise, a federal judge has ruled. The case, currently before a federal court in Arizona, involves a

]]>A convenience store charged with trafficking food stamps can’t get booted from the government program because it would crush the business since it’s located in a poor neighborhood where most clients use the welfare benefit to pay for merchandise, a federal judge has ruled.

The case, currently before a federal court in Arizona, involves a corner shop in a low-income neighborhood in northwest Phoenix. The feds have charged the owners, a husband-and-wife team, for trafficking $55 in food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to avoid any stigma associated with a government handout.

SNAP rules specifically require participating businesses—stores that accept food stamps as payment—be kicked out of the program if they are charged with any wrongdoing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the program and grants the permits to participating retailers. There is a lot of money involved. In fiscal year 2012, the last available figures, more than $74 billion in client benefits were redeemed at more than 246,000 participating stores, farmers’ markets and homeless meal providers, according to figures listed in the USDA’s annual report.

In the Phoenix case prosecutors, as per federal law, quickly moved to eject the convenience store from the government’s SNAP program after charging the owners with fraud. The owners took legal action to stop it, claiming that their business depends on food stamps for survival. They say their little store, called Bubba’s Drive Thru, would go under without food stamps because the majority of their clients use them to pay. In fact, most of the people who live in the area get some kind of government assistance, the criminally charged merchants revealed in federal court.

The federal judge hearing the case, David Campbell, was sympathetic and blocked the government from dropping Bubba’s Drive Thru from the SNAP roster this month. That means that, despite being criminally charged they get the opportunity to fleece more American taxpayers via the bloated food stamp program. That’s because Judge Campbell has determined the accused criminals’ “livelihood” will be negatively affected if the government stops the cash flow.

“As noted, Plaintiffs assert without contradiction that they will be out of business within a matter of weeks,” Judge Campbell wrote in his order. “Thus, if their disqualification takes effect immediately as provided in Defendants (the government) procedures, with no possibility of a stay, Plaintiffs will have been permanently deprived of their business and livelihood….”

It gets better. The judge downplayed the fraud as “only $55 of SNAP trafficking violations in the last five years.” He also acknowledged that “public interest normally would favor an honest and effectively enforced SNAP program” but says in the order that the case’s “unique facts” have led him to conclude that “the public interest would not be served by permanently shutting down” Bubba’s Drive Thru.

This absurd case is part of a bigger problem involving the government’s food-stamp program, which has grown immensely under President Obama. A record 48 million people—and growing—get free groceries from the government and the administration operates an aggressive promotion campaign to recruit even more recipients. It’s all part of Obama’s commitment to eradicate what he says is a national epidemic of “food insecure” households. Like all out-of-control government programs, this one has been plagued by fraud and corruption, forcing one U.S. senator to take action calling for an end to the madness.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2014/01/store-charged-with-fraud-survives-on-food-stamp-clients/feed/2U.S. Gives 1/3 of Puerto Rico Food Stampshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/05/u-s-gives-13-of-puerto-rico-food-stamps/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/05/u-s-gives-13-of-puerto-rico-food-stamps/#respondMon, 13 May 2013 17:18:45 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=15980As if it weren’t bad enough that a record 47.7 million people—and growing—get food stamps from the U.S. government, federal records reveal that a whopping 1/3 of Puerto Rico’s population receives them. This cost American taxpayers an astounding $2 billion last year, according to figures released by the government agency—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—that

]]>As if it weren’t bad enough that a record 47.7 million people—and growing—get food stamps from the U.S. government, federal records reveal that a whopping 1/3 of Puerto Rico’s population receives them.

This cost American taxpayers an astounding $2 billion last year, according to figures released by the government agency—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—that distributes the benefit. The information was originally obtained by a conservative news website that reports up to 25% of the $2 billion is untraceable because it’s distributed in cash and there’s no way to verify that the funds are actually spent on food.

The USDA does confirm, however, that an average of 1.37 million people received food stamps in Puerto Rico each month in fiscal year 2012. The island, which is a U.S. territory, has a population of 3.7 million, which means that 37% of Puerto Ricans get food stamps from Uncle Sam. Though the figure of 47.7 million in the U.S. shatters records, it still marks only 15.2% of the nation’s population of 313 million.

Nevertheless, the food stamp rolls continue to rise under President Obama who is committed to eradicating what he believes is a national epidemic of “food insecure” households. In 2012 the government spent an unprecedented $80.4 billion on the program, marking an unbelievable $2.7 billion increase from the previous year. The figure doesn’t even include other taxpayer-funded food programs for low-income populations like “Child Nutrition Programs” that received an additional $18.3 billion last year.

As is typical with these types of bloated government programs, fraud and corruption has tainted the USDA’s grocery giveaway. Just a few weeks ago Judicial Watch obtained documents from the USDA detailing how the agency is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program. The effort includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA ensuring that Mexicans in the U.S. don’t need to declare their immigration status to get financial assistance from Uncle Sam.

It turns out that illegal aliens have received food stamps by the vanload for decades, according to a former certification case worker who contacted J W after reading the documents. The retired assistant case manager, Craig McNees, was in charge of vetting food-stamp applicants in north Florida and Indiana in the ’80s and says the program was infested with fraud and corruption that was perpetually ignored by management. “Illegals would come in by the vanload and we were told to give them their stuff,” McNees said. “Management knew very well they were illegal. It was so rampant that some employees would tell their illegal relatives to come get food stamps.”

Previous to that JW has reported extensively on the fraud that has plagued the food-stamp program even as the Obama administration continues to promote it. For instance last spring the USDA Inspector General revealed that many food-stamp recipients use their welfare benefit to buy drugs, weapons and other contraband from unscrupulous vendors. Some trade food stamps for reduced amounts of cash. The fraud cost taxpayers nearly $200 million, according to the USDA watchdog, which provided various examples during testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

A separate federal audit revealed last year that many who don’t even qualify for food stamps receive them under a special “broad-based” eligibility program that disregards income and asset requirements. This is sticking American taxpayers with a multi-million-dollar tab to feed hundreds of thousands of people who can well afford to feed themselves.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/05/u-s-gives-13-of-puerto-rico-food-stamps/feed/0Judicial Watch Uncovers USDA Records Sponsoring U.S. Food Stamp Program for Illegal Alienshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-uncovers-usda-records-sponsoring-u-s-food-stamp-program-for-illegal-aliens/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-uncovers-usda-records-sponsoring-u-s-food-stamp-program-for-illegal-aliens/#commentsThu, 25 Apr 2013 20:10:14 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?post_type=press_release&p=15873Documents Reveal that Mexican Government Encourages Maximum Participation in U.S.-Funded Program (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released documents detailing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program. The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as...

]]>Documents Reveal that Mexican Government Encourages Maximum Participation in U.S.-Funded Program

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released documents detailing how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the Mexican government to promote participation by illegal aliens in the U.S. food stamp program.

The promotion of the food stamp program, now known as “SNAP” (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), includes a Spanish-language flyer provided to the Mexican Embassy by the USDA with a statement advising Mexicans in the U.S. that they do not need to declare their immigration status in order to receive financial assistance. Emphasized in bold and underlined, the statement reads, “You need not divulge information regarding your immigration status in seeking this benefit for your children.”

The documents came in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made to USDA on July 20, 2012. The FOIA request sought: “Any and all records of communication relating to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to Mexican Americans, Mexican nationals, and migrant communities, including but not limited to, communications with the Mexican government.”

The documents obtained by Judicial Watch show that USDA officials are working closely with their counterparts at the Mexican Embassy to widely broaden the SNAP program in the Mexican immigrant community, with no effort to restrict aid to, identify, or apprehend illegal immigrants who may be on the food stamp rolls. In an email to Borjon Lopez-Coterilla and Jose Vincente of the Mexican Embassy, dated January 26, 2012, Yibo Wood of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) sympathized with the plight of illegal aliens applying for food stamps, saying, “FNS understands that mixed status households may be particularly vulnerable. Many of these households contain a non-citizen parent and a citizen child.”

The email from Wood to Lopez-Coterilla and Vincente came in response to a request from the Mexican Embassy that the USDA FNS step in to prevent the state of Kansas from changing its food stamp policy to restrict the amount of financial assistance provided to illegal aliens. In a January 22, 2012, article, the Kansas City Star had revealed that the state would no longer include illegal aliens in its calculations of the amount of assistance to be provided low-income Hispanic families in order to prevent discrimination against legal recipients.

The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch in August 2012, include the following:

March 30, 2012 – The USDA seeks approval of the Mexican Embassy in drafting a letter addressed to consulates throughout the United States designed to encourage Mexican embassy staffers to enroll in a webinar learn how to promote increased enrollment among “the needy families that the consulates serve.”

August 1, 2011 – The USDA FNS initiates contact with the Mexican Embassy in New York to implement programs already underway in DC and Philadelphia for maximizing participation among Mexican citizens. The Mexican Embassy responds that the Consul General is eager to strengthen his ties to the USDA, with specific interest in promoting the food stamp program.

February 25, 2011 – The USDA and the Mexican Consulate exchange ideas about getting the First Ladies of Mexico and United States to visit a school for purposes of creating a photo opportunity that would promote free school lunches for low-income students in a predominantly Hispanic school. Though a notation in the margin of the email claims that the photo op never took place,UPI reported that it actually did.

March 3, 2010 – A flyer advertises a webinar to teach Hispanic-focused nonprofits how to get reimbursed by the USDA for serving free lunch over the summer. The course, funded by American taxpayers, is advertised as being “free for all participants.”

February 9 , 2010 – USDA informs the Mexican Embassy that, based on an agreement reached between the State Department and the Immigration & Naturalization Service (now ICE), the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) food voucher program does not violate immigration laws prohibiting immigrants from becoming a “public charge.”

As far back as 2006, in its Corruption Chronicles blog, Judicial Watch revealed that the USDA was spending taxpayer money to run Spanish-language television ads encouraging illegal immigrants to apply for government-financed food stamps. The Mexican Consul in Santa Ana, CA, at the time even starred in some of the U.S. Government-financed television commercials, which explained the program and provided a phone number to apply. In the widely viewed commercial the Consul assured that receiving food stamps “won’t affect your immigration status.”

In 2012, Judicial Watch reported that in a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions questioned the Obama administration’s partnership with Mexican consulates to encourage foreign nationals, migrant workers and non-citizen immigrants to apply for food stamps and other USDA administered welfare benefits. Sessions wrote, “It defies rational thinking, for the United States – now dangerously $16 trillion in debt – to partner with foreign governments to help us place more foreign nationals on American welfare and it is contrary to good immigration policy in the United States.”

“The revelation that the USDA is actively working with the Mexican government to promote food stamps for illegal aliens should have a direct impact on the fate of the immigration bill now being debated in Congress,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These disclosures further confirm the fact that the Obama administration cannot be trusted to protect our borders or enforce our immigration laws. And the coordination with a foreign government to attack the policies of an American state is contemptible.”